Rise and fall
by Six-string Samurai
Summary: Ranma decided to take a more active stance in the way his life is going.  Will his attempt to change things be for the better, or for the worse?


Ranma and Co. is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. 1993

Ranma ½ is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc.

A Ranma ½ Fan Fiction

Rise and fall Chapter One – Grey Lining 

            Ranma found himself once again reclining on the rooftop of the Tendou home.  He had been spending the past few evenings up there, just to have a few minutes of peace.  At the moment he was lost in thought, arms folded comfortably behind his head.  Nearly two years had come and gone since he first came back to Japan, more specifically, since coming to Nerima.  That wasn't what troubled him right then though.  It was only a small part of the larger whole.  What bothered Ranma was the fact that here he was, nearly eighteen years old, almost out of high school, and he was _still _dealing with the same problems.  Day in and out, nothing seemed to change.  Sure there was the odd challenge popping up now and then.

When he thought back on it, though, nothing had really changed.  He was still the same old Ranma, fighting the same old battles.  That was the crux of the matter.  The question was did he really want to change all of this?  It was what he knew.  It was real.  Ranma's mouth turned down for a moment.  It was safe, is what it was.  He wasn't running from his problems, no, he realized that now.  He was simply hiding behind them.  Hiding, that's what his father did.

            Sitting bolt upright, he ran a hand across his face.  That settled it, there was no way he was going to turn out like his old man.  If his path were headed in that direction, he would definitely be making some changes.  Now, he needed to figure out where to begin.  Jumping down to the yard, Ranma noticed the light in the dojo was on.  _Akane must be in there.  Maybe she wouldn't mind a sparring partner.  _As he got closer to the dojo entrance, he could hear the faint sounds that usually accompanied Akane's sessions.  Leaning against the doorframe, Ranma contented himself to watch Akane move through a few forms before he announced his presence.  Who knows, maybe she might even notice someone was watching before he had to say anything.

            It turned out that even after two minutes, she still hadn't noticed Ranma standing there.  It seemed that pounding the stuffing out of a punching bag took all of her concentration and skills of perception.  Ranma shook his head; this simply wasn't good at all.  There still was a niggling qualm in the back of his consciousness that didn't like the idea of hitting girls.  So to offset it, he reasoned that this would be for the betterment of Akane's skill in the Art.  _This is for her own good…I'm sounding more and more like pops everyday._  With that oh so reasonable thought in his head, Ranma moved up behind her and executed a crescent kick aimed at her right shoulder.

            Akane must have seen the movement out of the corner of her eye, because at the very last second, she managed to bend to the left and pull an arm up to ward off the brunt of the kick.  Not wasting time, Ranma used the momentum of his deflected leg to rotate his hip, bringing that leg spinning around a second time.  Akane was already in an awkward position to defend against a rear attack, so Ranma's foot caught her right arm at an angle just as she attempted to block.  The blow tumbled her sidelong into the hanging bag that she had just been throttling mere seconds ago.  Stumbling, Akane caught her balance, fixing Ranma with a very irate glare.

            "What do you think you are doing Ranma?"  Akane stood up, attempting to keep herself from rubbing her arm, which hurt where Ranma had kicked it.  "If you want to spar, you should say something first!"  

            "Well?"  Ranma simply asked.  Watching her start to fume, he figured this was the reaction he was going to get.  Akane still had next to no reign over her anger, justified or not.

            "Well what?"  She fairly snapped at him, managing to look prideful and wounded at the same time.

            "Do ya want to continue?  Thought you might want to practice on somethin' that hits back."  Ranma gestured at the swaying punching bag just behind Akane.  "You already hit hard enough, that ain't gonna do much more for you."  Akane still looked a little set off, but she had gathered most of her wits.

            "You promise to fight me for real Ranma?  Not just jumping around all over the place?"  A hint of doubt crept into her voice at the last.

            "Heh, c'mon Akane.  You're all but cradling that arm, and you still don't believe me?"  At his comment, she frowned a little.  "Don't worry, I won't hit ya harder than that."  The frown all but settled onto her face, but she nodded anyway, and took a stance.

            "Ok Ranma, just remember you promised to fight back this time."  As soon as he nodded at her, she leapt toward him, intent on putting him right through the floor.  Ranma, for his part, made no visible move to avoid the incoming blow.  As her fist slid inches from the side of Ranma's head, Akane wore a puzzled expression.  She hadn't even seen him move, and her aim was dead on.  Her right elbow shot out to impact with Ranma's ribs, so that her now overextended left hook could be withdrawn and not leave her quite so open.  Somehow she missed a second time, and her mistake was rewarded in the form of three swift blows to the muscle running down the middle of her back.

            Whirling around, Akane swung a backhand in the hopes of catching Ranma before he scooted off.  Instead of finding her punch catching only air as she half expected, it was minutely tapped by a flick of Ranma's wrist.  Who by the way, was not bounding off. Actually he was still right next to her.  Furthermore, thanks to her errant attack, well inside her guard.  Before Akane could react, she found herself looking up at the ceiling of the dojo, and Ranma was several feet away, rising from a ground toss.  The main thought running through her head was how much her back was now hurting.  She could tell that Ranma was waiting expectantly for her to get up.  With a muffled groan, Akane pushed herself to her feet; there was no way she was backing down, not from Ranma.

            Ranma nodded to himself, Akane was getting back up, though she looked a little bit pissed.  It was one thing to get his opponents riled up so they couldn't think clearly; this however was another thing entirely.  He needed her to stay focused, or she wouldn't gain anything from this except a bitter grudge.  That would mean he was hurting her needlessly.  Inwardly, Ranma cursed at himself.  He only now realized that he'd been doing that very thing, all along.  Verbal sparring was not much different than physical; the pain was real, maybe not as plain, but real nonetheless.  "Come on Akane, we're sparring, not tryin' ta kill each other."

_            Ranma's making a fool of me I know it.  He said he'd fight and he's still treating me like he always does.  I'll show him I'm not a joke._  "Stop stalling and fight me Ranma!"  Ranma could only blink in mild confusion as the words left Akane's mouth.  She thought he was stalling?  Wordlessly he met her headlong charge, sidestepping a flying kick just as they met.  When Ranma evaded her kick, Akane hit the ground and spun into a leg sweep.  A now airborne martial artist avoided the quick maneuver, already twisting a one hundred and eighty degrees to land facing his opponent.  As soon as he landed, Ranma darted forward, lashing out with a flurry of roundhouse kicks.  Akane was forced to backpedal or risk being hit repeatedly.  

            He couldn't hide a smile as Akane tightened her defense.  _She's finally starting to concentrate._  

            Akane was hard pressed to avoid Ranma's advance and was even harder pressed to find a way to counter-attack.  She was starting to get into a decent mood when out of the blue Ranma smirked.  _The jerk!  Now he thinks he's playing a game!_  Incensed, Akane struck out with a fierce right hook.  _I'm going to put him through the wall!_  Right as she launched the haymaker, Ranma felt Akane's mood darken.  

            _Well, can't say we didn't try._  Resigned, Ranma dropped down into the splits, slipping directly under the flying fist that promised worlds of pain.  Akane wasn't so lucky.  One moment her target was there, plain as day, and the next he was gone from her view.  All of the air was forced from her lungs as a solid fist planted itself just under her diaphragm.  Ranma got to his knees in time to catch Akane across his shoulder when she doubled up.  Coughing and shuddering, Akane just lay there, trying painfully to draw breath back into herself.  They sat like that for a few minutes, him kneeling and her draped over his right shoulder like a rag doll.

              When he could feel her start to breath normally again, Ranma decided it was safe to speak.  "Akane, you alright?"  The slap on the back she gave him wasn't an answer he was expecting, neither was being shoved over when she pushed herself upright.  Rolling to his feet, Ranma looked over at his former opponent.  She wasn't returning the glance; she also appeared to be hobbling toward the dojo entrance.  "Hey, Akane…" He was interrupted mid-sentence when she called out hoarsely over her shoulder.

            "I'm going to take a bath, so don't bother me Ranma."  He watched her slip out the door and presumably head toward the house.  "Yea, I probably hit her a little too hard.  Maybe next time…" Trailing off, he took a look around the dojo.  For once, the place was still intact.  "Heh, if it's not one thing, it's gonna be somethin' else." Ranma decided to go through a few simple katas before heading inside for something to eat.  He still needed to think over a good many things.  Already, he could guess at how the next couple of days were going to be.

            Inside the Tendou household another mind was mulling over a certain pig-tailed martial artist.  Akane lay soaking in the furo, a damp washcloth draped across her brow.  She willed the hot water to do its work, but the recent bout with Ranma had her brain racking itself for an explanation.  _What the hell has gotten into Ranma?_  Akane let out a breath and took stock of the current situation.  First off, she was more than a little angry, both with Ranma, and to a lesser extent, herself.  This was nothing new.  So, to the second point of interest her mind leapt.  Ranma was acting strange, for him anyway.  That tidbit culled up, Akane thought back over what she could remember of the past week.

            Now, here it was, a full half-hour later and Akane had come up with exactly one conclusion.  Nothing _unusual_ had happened, as far as she knew.  Things at home were the same, as were things at school.  The odd bit of time that counted for their combined social lives, was as it always had been.  Not one significant detail felt out of place in the ornate tapestry that made up Nerima life.  It was a far cry from boring that was for sure, and yet…there must be something, something she overlooked.  A minor detail somewhere, for what else would cause such an anomaly as the event in the dojo?  After coming up with nothing, she decided she needed to find out more of what _was_ going on around here.

            A knock at the changing room door interrupted Akane just as she was stepping out of the furo to reach for a towel.  Hastily grabbing the concealing cloth, she called out that she would be out in a minute.  Frankly she was surprised, and a bit relieved, that whoever it was had deigned to knock first before just barging in.  Receiving no positive reply from the other side spurred the still wet girl to hurry and pull on her robe.  After all, there were perverts walking the city, one or two in this house as a matter of fact.  Being on guard against such had fast become a way of life.


End file.
